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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842834">Dedicate Your Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Squirrel/pseuds/Evil_Squirrel'>Evil_Squirrel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Fantastic Racism, Gen, Rituals, Sacrifice, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:07:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,217</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Squirrel/pseuds/Evil_Squirrel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Louise gets an opportunity to prove Eren that she's a dedicated Jaegerist.<br/>However, the price might be too high for her.<br/></p><p>Day 9: Ritual Sacrifice</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dedicate Your Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Louise was fondling the scarf she found sooner that day, wrapping it around herself, her mind focused on the owner. Mikasa. How come she took it off? She wore it everywhere. Even the Jaegerists who were with Mikasa in the 104<sup>th</sup>, Daz and Samuel, were surprised to see her without it.</p><p>The red scarf poured through her fingers. Why did her heroine not follow the path of Eren and others? How come someone as brave as her didn’t want to fight against their oppressors from around the world? It wasn’t as if Mikasa was weak, quite the opposite; she was worth one hundred soldiers. She was unstoppable. She could eradicate everyone in her way.</p><p>Louise remembered that day in Trost again. The yet unknown girl with a scarf descending upon a fallen giant was a sparkle of hope for them all. Her fearlessness not just when killing a Titan, but also when confronting the merchant blocking the way was Louise’s inspiration. She wondered yet again if she would become to somebody what Mikasa was to her. If a girl would look up to her with the same admiration she felt that day.</p><p>She stared at her mirror reflection with fists full of the scarf. Dedicate your heart. There was no other way to defeat the enemy. Fight or die. If you win, you’ll survive. That’s the lesson life gave her.</p><p>Somebody knocked on the door. Louise took hastily the scarf off and shoved it under the blanket. “Who’s that?”</p><p>“Floch Forster here. I was sent by our leader, Eren Jaeger. You are needed.” Louise’s heartbeat fastened. Was that her chance to prove herself? To the Eren Jaeger? The savior of Paradis? What could he want from her?</p><p>She realized she stared for a moment on the door without doing anything so she bolted and immediately walked out of the room. It would be bad if she got there too late because she was stuck looking at nothing and thinking. Daydreaming couldn’t save Eldia. At the last moment, she remembered that she should blow off the candle. Why didn’t she think of that immediately?? She could accidentally light up their lounge.</p><p>Floch looked at her with his ‘better than you’ stare. She felt almost naked when she compared her plain nightgown to his full uniform. He didn’t send her back for hers so she assumed formal clothes didn’t matter for this particular occasion.</p><p>“Do you have any idea why he’s asking for me?” Louise looked at Floch.</p><p>“So you can prove yourself an ally to the Eldian cause,” Floch said. This answer meant that it must’ve been a secret. In fact, it must’ve been so much of a secret not even the Floch Forster knew it. Louise did her best to cover her excitement, but she was sure Floch must’ve seen something since he made a face.</p><p>They walked through the building. Sometimes, they could hear people talk or laugh. Louise wondered what her friends were doing right now. They were probably playing cards, as always.</p><p>Walking downstairs, the stairs made creaky sounds. In fact, each of the stairs made its own unique creaky sound. Despite living here only for a short time, it already felt like home to her.</p><p>The room of Eren Jaeger was located near the stairs to a cellar. Louise wasn’t sure why he would choose something so close to the entrance when they had so many enemies, but Titan shifting abilities probably meant he was safe from most of the threats. Floch ran a hand through his hair as if he was trying to calm the storm on his head and he tried to wave away nonexistent mess off his uniform. Louise did the same, but the nightgown was even cleaner than the uniform.</p><p>Floch finally knocked on the door. “I’m bringing her.”</p><p>“Come in.” After Floch opened the door which exposed Eren sitting in an armchair with a bored expression, both of them immediately saluted. Eren nodded, stood up and, although he seemed bored while doing that, saluted too.</p><p>“I’m truly honored that you chose me to help you,” Louise blurted out before she realized how dumb that sounded which made her lower her head in shame. When she looked up again, she noticed that something in his expression changed.</p><p>Floch seemed to notice too as he made a few steps to cut the distance between him and whispered something into his ear. Louise couldn’t really make up anything of the whisper.</p><p>“Later, Floch.” Eren didn’t even bother lowering his voice. “Let’s get this over first.”</p><p>He made a gesture towards Louise. She closed the door and then followed him along with Floch. They went further into his room. In front of a fireplace, somebody painted with strange, almost black, but greenish color, the symbol their brothers and sisters outside of Paradis were branded with – the nine-pointed star. Louise gulped when she saw that.</p><p>“Something’s wrong?” Eren asked. Louise quickly shook her head, perhaps too quickly. What if he thought that she disliked the symbol of their people? “I understand. Nearly every time I saw it in my father’s memories, it was on an armband. Except one time when it was a symbol of the glory of the Nine, as it was supposed to be.”</p><p>Louise nodded. “We have to take it back. We have to take everything back from them.” Her voice sounded too unsure for her liking, but none of her companions raised any questions.</p><p>“Exactly.” The Eren Jaeger agreed with her. “I see that you’re dedicated.”</p><p>Louise immediately saluted. “I dedicated my heart to the Jaegerist cause, sir!”</p><p>Eren smiled, although tiredly. “Tell me…”</p><p>“Louise.”</p><p>“… Louise. Would you dedicate your heart literally?” Floch suddenly stiffened.</p><p>“What?” How more literally she could dedicate her heart to the cause? She was living for the Jaegerists and did nothing else. She didn’t even have friends who weren’t Jaegerists, although that wasn’t hard since Eren was unsurprisingly popular.</p><p>Eren reached for something in another armchair. “You see, I found a way to revive Ymir Fritz, the great founder. In order to do that, I had to draw her symbol-“ He pointed at the star on the floor, “find some of her remains-”</p><p>“You broke into Ymir Fritz’s tomb?” Louise couldn’t believe it. First of all, it meant that there was an actual tomb of Ymir Fritz. There was a proof she existed. Second of all, none of their enemies – and especially the filthy Marleyans – didn’t manage to break into her tomb sooner.</p><p>“Yes. I wouldn’t do it if it was necessary for our cause.” Eren continued. “I also had to collect her wisdom-” He waved his arm towards scriptures written in a language Louise didn’t understand and a few books that, if she remembered correctly, were forbidden before the coup after which Historia Reiss took the throne- “-and I need your heart.”</p><p>Louise stared into the fire. Even during the heated battle of Liberio when the Marleyans aimed their rifles at her, she didn’t consider the possibility of not living long enough to see the glory of the new Eldian Empire. She always imagined herself, smiling at the new world, as she showed her mother, who was also a Jaegerist, how much she helped their dream come true. She imagined herself receiving a medal from the queen, quite the one those who survived the battle of Shiganshina years ago got. She imagined taking down an enemy zeppelin and saluting to a girl she just saved that was looking up to her with eyes full of admiration.</p><p>When she thought about that right now, it was pretty dumb of her. People died in a war, regardless of their will to live. There might be a tiny chance she would get injected with the serum and fed an enemy shifter, but that would only give her another thirteen years after which she would be fed to somebody else.</p><p>Saying yes would mean her life would perish today and in her last moments, she would only remember their days when they weren’t free. There would be statues of legendary heroes who fought bravely, but a girl sacrificing her heart for a ritual couldn’t expect the same treatment. What would be her legacy?</p><p>It wouldn’t be the first time she faced an unexpected death though. She still remembered how they were celebrating in the zeppelin and suddenly, Sasha Braus fell to the floor with a bullet in her. That was the Marleyan girl doing. The poor self-hating Eldian who didn’t want her people to succeed.</p><p>It was all Marley’s fault, after all. If it weren’t for them and their Helos, Eldians wouldn’t be forced into ghettos around the world. If it weren’t for them and the traitorous children they sent, so many people living in Shiganshina, Wall Maria and the Trost district could live. If it weren’t for them making their island a colony, they wouldn’t have to hide in the walls in the first place. And if they weren’t oppressing them, she wouldn’t have to give up her life today.</p><p>She looked back at Eren and saluted. “I dedicate my heart, sir!”</p><p>Eren smiled. “You’re brave.”</p><p>“And because of your bravery, our empire will rise again,” Floch added. Feelings of respect from her comrades, especially the Eren Jaeger, overwhelmed Louise. Her chest was rising with pride that couldn’t be washed away by the fact that she was going to take her last breath soon. If only Mikasa could see her…</p><p>“Sit down inside the star,” Eren ordered and pointed his chin in the direction of it. Louise entered the star, aware of her clumsy steps, and kneeled in the middle, her hands resting in her lap. Something occurred to her.</p><p>“Should I take off my clothes? I mean, I won’t need them anymore anyway and it’s just another thing in the way of getting into my heart, but…”</p><p>“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.” Louise didn’t want to admit it, but hearing that calmed her down. Sure, she would do it for the empire, but there was something inappropriate about it.</p><p>Louise could hear the fire cracking behind her. She closed her eyes, focused on her breathing. Not for long though. She opened them when she heard some movement. It was Eren putting all the things needed for the sacrifice into the points of the star. She also noticed there was some root, used to draw the star, judging by the fact it was covered in the weird paint. She didn’t ask why he used the root; if Eren didn’t tell her, she wasn’t supposed to know.</p><p>“Your belongings will be used to further the Eldian cause,” Floch said. Louise’s heart raced. Somebody will find out about the scarf. Oh no. If they find out about it, they would know that she stole something not belonging to her and what was worse, it belonged to one of the heroes of Paradis, albeit on the opposite side. If that really happened, all of her chances of being remembered disappeared. There were no history recordings of girls sacrificing their hearts who did wrong.</p><p>Sure, she could ask them to give her belongings to her mother, but they would see the scarf anyway. Her mother… she was probably thinking that her daughter was fighting Marleyans and here she was, kneeling in a star found on so many Eldians’ armbands, with not much time to live. She couldn’t even say goodbye to her. Louise didn’t think that she would actually regret it, but she started.</p><p>She focused on the root. She knew that if she thought about her mother for longer time, she would start crying and she couldn’t afford that. Eren Jaeger might then think she’s but a coward who can’t even sacrifice her life for the cause.</p><p>Floch lowered himself to her, a knife in his hand. He was staring as if he was observing her and then he moved his hand. Suddenly, Eren caught his wrist.</p><p>“No stabbing in the heart. We need to heart to not be damaged.” It was her time. It was her time to be brave and not to suddenly bolt and run away to her bedroom. It was her time to show Marleyans which nation had the bigger spirit. It was her time to dedicate her heart.</p><p>She saluted one last time as Eren made her tilt her head back. His hand was in her hair, as if he was holding her. One of her friends upstairs burst into laugh because of something she didn’t hear. The fire behind her was still cracking. Despite her best efforts, she could feel tears in the corners of her eyes.</p><p>Eren put a blade of a knife to her throat, making no other movement. Floch watched with a strange glee in his face, as if he was watching his favorite theatre performance. Nothing was happening. For a moment, Louise thought that it was over and maybe she could say goodbye to her friends first-</p><p>The blade buried itself into her throat, breaking through skin, veins and arteries. Louise made a gurgling sound, the kind that would make faint-hearted throw up. The last thing she saw was a small girl standing next to Eren, looking down at her with an empty stare.</p><p> </p>
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